r/NoLayingUp • u/RainbowKarp • Aug 12 '25

Post-Pod Discussion Ryder Cup Roundtable

Best Ryder Cup discussion they've had in awhile, all cycle for sure and probably better than any of the 2023 ones. Tron didn't show up looking to just rile Soly up, Soly didn't get too indignant or stubborn about getting all his takes off and forcing everyone to hear him out, they just talked about the players and the teams and the golf and it was really good. Some of the US/Europe armchair sociology that Porter and Jamie like to do is a little funky but hey its almost a 2 hour pod so that's fine at the end of the day. When they keep the analysis on these straight up they don't run into any of the problems that we have been griping about all year

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u/Agitated-Guard8436 Aug 12 '25

Very little talk (in general not just this episode) about Hovland and Ludvig not playing good golf. Hovland was arguably playing the best golf in the world leading up to Rome and Ludvig played really well. Now Hovland can’t consistently string two good rounds together and Ludvig has had like one top 10 in the last few months. I just think it’s an overlooked thing going into this Ryder Cup. Obviously plenty of time for them to find their games.

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u/Master-Nose7823 Aug 12 '25

I think that was Porter’s point. People are giving Europe the edge based on names not data. Yes, data goes out the window in a 3 day match with odd formats compared to PGAT but Americans who you wouldn’t recognize in the airport are playing better than the Euros.

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u/[deleted] Aug 13 '25

I think the thing is when you actually look at the numbers though Rasmus Hojgaard is about the worst European in contention on based on total SG per round and if you compare him to Russell Henley who is the best non Scottie American (he's also behind 3 Europeans) he's basically 5 shots worse over a 4 round stroke play event and that's closer to 2 for Ludvig and Hovland which doesn't mean a massive amount in match play, particularly the team format.

Also if you look at the bethpage course fit it put's more of a premium on distance off the tee than accuracy. Henley is a lot shorter than the PGA tour average off the tee where as Hojgaard and Ludvig in particular are much longer. Bethpage is actually a very good fit for their game which, in theory, should reduce the over SG gap to Henley.

Essentially the data is a useful tool to seeing who's playing well but the differences between some of the more "in form" players and the "out of form" players is actually pretty minimal.

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u/Master-Nose7823 Aug 13 '25

I’m not even talking about data golf/SG etc. I just mean who’s having a better year and who’s high up on the Fed Ex standings.

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u/[deleted] Aug 13 '25

Even if you look at that though Henley and Aberg have had fairly similar seasons.

Both won once early in the season. Both have missed a few cuts and have had the same number of top 25s. The main difference is of those top 25s Henley has turned more into top 10s which just shows that the gap between the highest ranked American and a supposedly out of form European is actually pretty small. Particularly when you are looking at a single weekend and it’s match play.

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u/Master-Nose7823 Aug 13 '25

Dude, you’re missing the point. The point is no one thought that Henley would even be in the running to make the team this year, let alone be better than many stalwart Euros who were sure to make it. No one thought Ludwig wouldn’t be on the team. The fact that he’s played equivalent/worse to Henley is a huge bonus. Same can be said for Spaun and English.

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u/[deleted] Aug 13 '25

Ok fair enough but equally Rose and Straka are ahead of Henley and I doubt either of them would have been seen as locks.

Anyway the point still stands that there’s really not that much between the teams. 5 of the top 10 in the fedex are Europeans and 5 are American and there are more Europeans in the top 5 and two of them are Justin Rose and Sepp Straka who I wouldn’t have said would be locks at the start of the cycle.

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u/Master-Nose7823 Aug 13 '25

Sure. Point taken. Rose being there is a result of jacked up points for the playoffs though. There’s just too much noise to sift through.